The Atacama Desert is so dry NASA uses it to stimulate Mars. Wikipedia also lists five (!) observatories (one under construction, to be home to the Extremely Large Telescope), including the Very Large Telescope (built), ALMA (built), and others.[1] It's basically as close as you can get to space while being on the ground on Earth. [1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Desert#Astronomical_observatories